Halloween

Halloween came and it reminded me of Michigan Halloweens, cold and rainy. I guess it wasn't that cold, but it sure was rainy.

The kids celebrated twice. Elizabeth was a fairy princess and Alex was a police officer on Friday. Then on Saturday, Elizabeth switched to a cheerleader.

We started on Friday with a party at the Stevens' house. They trick or treated with a big group of kids around the Vizcaya neighborhood. The next time on Saturday with the Romanski's at Season's Villas neighborhood. Alex absolutely loved trick or treating. He completely understands the concept this year. They got a bunch of candy but not a lot of good stuff for Mom to have.

Kirk got to have fun this year too. Liu and I searched all over Pudong for a decent pumpkin for him to carve. They don't have big, round pumpkins, they have short, squat, round pumpkinds. Anyway, Kirk was able to do him magic and even got the kids involved. He also dressed up with his wig and was a hippy or something like that. We'll have to work on his costume for next year.

Concordia Autumn Festival

The school has a party in the fall to celebrate Halloween. Given that we go to a Christian school, there can be no dressing up as a devil, witch, ...anything evil. So they have a celebration and have games and this year had a bounce house. The kids got tattoos, face painting, and played carnival style games. Check out the video when Kirk posts it. Watch Alex put the ring around the bottles. No cheating there.

The preschoolers had a parade. Both kids wore their Halloween costumes.

Elizabeth's Potluck Lunch

Elizbeth's class was learning about family. The 5 kindergarten classes decided to have a family potluck. Everyone brought a dish to pass. Wow, there was a lot of food from so many cultures there. Elizabeth asked me to make Spagetti and Meatballs.

Alex's Gym Class

We've signed Alex up for a gym class on Saturday mornings to help burn some of his excess energy. It's a program called Multisports. They basically teach different sports and techniques throughout the semester. I think it is a total comedy show. Coach Johhny and Coach Pete are really good with these little kids. Coach Johnny gives the instructions and then Coach Pete demonstrates and basically makes a fool out of himself, therefore, making the kids love every minute of it. Alex wasn't too keen the first class, but is getting the hang of it. He still has problem following all the instructions because he just wants to run, but he is getting better at it.

Joe & Keri Taverna Visit

It's hard to believe but the small world thing just keeps happening here. Another family from Michigan is moving over and we took them out. I met Joe and Keri Taverna at GMI as a freshman. We were all the same year. Keri left to get her teaching degrees and Joe and I ended up getting the same degree and studied for classes together. Then they moved into the same neighborhood in Clarkston as our friends Justin and Nichoel Wasik and became friends with them.

Julie and Romo, other GMI grads, came out with us. We ate at Azul Viva, a great Tapas restaurant here in Shanghai. We ended with several stops on the Bund. They move here in January with their 3 kids. We are looking forward to it.

Good Bye Mrs. (Alex) Chiu

Alex Chiu was Elizabeth's preschool teacher for the past two years and started out this year as Alex's preschool teacher. She is a phenomenal teacher with so much skill and patience for children. As the first "real" teacher of my kids that I have had to interact with, she has set the bar so high. She has now repatriated to the US with her family. Her daughter, Nicole, was also a classmate of Elizabeth's. We definitely miss them! This is a photo of some of the mom/friends that had lunch with her before she left. From me going left, Cindy Kaupilla, Alex Chiu, Peline Toh, Lisa Sos, and Terrie Shen.

Bali Trip

Here is the video from the trip. The pictures are in the other posting, but I wanted to say a few words about Bali.

We went with the Romanski family and our families got along great on vacation. All the kids got along great.

We started the weekend with massages. What a better way to start relaxing than a massage overlooking the Indian Ocean.

The villa we had was amazing. It was on the 13th hole of a golf course and just past that was the Indian Ocean. I could sit for hours on the 2nd floor veranda and listen to the waves crash. During the day, they were gentle, tumbling waves. You could follow the waves from along the coast as they tumbled in. At night, they were loud, angry, crashing waves. It almost sounded as if a thunderstorm was rumbling on.

We spent most of our time swimming. The villa had a plunge pool and then we also had access to the Le Meridien resort pools. The resort had a few different pool areas and all were nice. There were two water slides that the kids and the adults had a blast with. Our typical day started out with breakfast, a swim in the plunge pool, a trip to the resort pools, lunch, nap, and swimming again before and after dinner in the plunge pool.

Kirk was able to golf a few times. Romo went out with him the first time and he was done at the 13th hole. I told Kirk before we left that he had my permission to golf everyday, this was his vacation. Too bad for him that he didn't take advantage.

We did take an opportunity to travel into town a couple days. Once to Kuta, which is a beach town popular with tourists, beach bums, and surfers. It was a little like Myrtle Beach, so Kirk really didn't like it. We played in the ocean and did some big wave jumping. Alex was scared at first, and then got comfortable and loved it. Elizabeth, Allie, and Madison all had a great time and didn't want to leave the water. It was a reaally hot day!

Another day, we traveled to see a volcano, Mt Kutamani, or something like that. We ate a restaurant that overlooked the mountain. Then we went to a market that sold coffee and chocolate. After, we went to a Hindu temple that was really peaceful. Maybe not so peaceful with Alex there :). That car trip threw us over and the Roessler family decided that we would be doing no more car trips.

A couple nights, we went down to the hotel to watch Balinese dancing.

Elizabeth and I also went horseback riding on the beach. I was nervous for her, but she did great. Her first time. She loved it.

We had a great lady, Marni, who cooked for us. She made some great satay - otherwise known in the Roessler household as "chicken and steak popsicles". Elizabeth would chow down on these.

We will definitely go back someday!